Lighting control of a user environment via a display device

ABSTRACT

A system and method for controlling lighting conditions in a user environment in the context of an image capture device are disclosed. An inner frame area and an outer frame area adjust certain lighting conditions in the user environment in response to certain lighting conditions detected by the image capture device. The frame areas may be dynamically controlled as to affect the brightness and/or color of the particular user environment. Multiple image capture devices may be used to video conference.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application and claims the prioritybenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/624,886, filed Jan. 19, 2007,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,965,859 and entitled “Lighting Control of a UserEnvironment via a Display Device,” which claims the priority benefit ofU.S. provisional patent application No. 60/798,112 filed May 4, 2006,and entitled “Lighting Control of a User Environment via a DisplayDevice.” The disclosures of each of these applications are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the generation of visual datathrough an image capture device during an audio/visual session such asan ‘audio/visual chat’ session or during video game play. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to control of lightingconditions in a user environment that affect the quality of image datagenerated during audio/visual sessions.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the increased processing capabilities of various computing systems,new methods for interacting with those computer systems have becomeavailable. For example, a variety of input devices employing video imagecapture allow user control of or interaction with objects on a graphicaldisplay such as a video monitor.

Such video input devices often are responsive to the movement orposition of a user in the field of view of an image capture device.Video image processing translates the movement of the user that has beencaptured as a sequence of video images into signals that may be used,for example, to control a character or avatar in a video game.Alternatively, image processing may generate a video image to bedisplayed in a ‘chat’ session in a manner similar to a video conference.

An image capture device typically scans a field of view in which a usermay be present (e.g., a user environment such as an office, game room,living room or the like). The captured video image may be applied to avideo digitizer that provides digital output to a processor thatanalyzes and processes the digital information received from thedigitizer. Based upon the position or movement of the participant in thefield of view, the processor produces signals that are used by thegraphics generating system to move objects on the display. Similarly,the system may generate an image of the user for transmission to anotheruser in a chat session.

The output of the devices on graphical displays can be significantlyaffected by a variety of factors, especially lighting conditions in theuser environment. The computer processing time required for imageprocessing in an ideal user environment may be extensive and complex andtends to require substantial computing and/or temporal resources. A userenvironment that is overexposed or underexposed as to particular lightsources only complicates such processing activities in that the systemmust compensate for the adverse lighting conditions thereby resulting inslower computing operations and affecting any real-time interactions. Insome instances, the lighting conditions are so adverse that a computingsystem cannot compensate for the particular environment conditions andinaccurate data—if any—is generated thereby resulting in incorrect gamecontrol or the generation of poor chat session video.

There is a need for an image capture device whereby the lightingconditions of various user environments can be automatically anddynamically controlled subject to the particular requirements of thecapture device or hardware and software related thereto. Additionally,there is a need for lessening the computational burdens of an imageprocessing system coupled to such a device whereby the system mayfunction substantially in real-time thus providing the user with anatural interaction experience with regard to a game, chat session, orany other interaction involving the aforementioned image capture device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments provide a video conferencing system in which a firstimage capture device captures first user environment image data in afirst user environment for transmission over a communications network,and a second image capture device captures second user environment imagedata in a second user environment for transmission over thecommunications network. The system includes a conference managementserver coupled to the network, the conference management serverreceiving the first user environment image data and the second userenvironment image data. The conference management server furthermonitors at least one lighting condition in the first user environmentand at least one lighting condition in the second user environment. Afirst computing device is associated with the first image capturedevice, the first computing device receiving lighting controlinstructions from the conference management server, and a secondcomputing device is associated with the second image capture device, thesecond computing device receiving lighting control instructions from theconference management server. The lighting control instructions from theconference management server comprise generating an outer frame area andan inner frame area, the outer frame area controlling at least onelighting condition in the respective user environment so that the atleast one lighting condition remains within an operating range of therespective image capture device.

Further embodiments of the present invention provide a method of videoconferencing comprising capturing first user environment image data witha first image capture device in a first user environment fortransmission over a communications network, and capturing second userenvironment image data with a second image capture device in a seconduser environment for transmission over the communications network. Themethod further includes monitoring at least one lighting condition inthe first user environment and at least one lighting condition in thesecond user environment with a conference management server coupled tothe network, the conference management server receiving the first userenvironment image data and the second user environment image data. Themethod also includes receiving lighting control instructions from theconference management server at a first computing device associated withthe first image capture device, and receiving lighting controlinstructions from the conference management server at a second computingdevice associated with the second image capture device. The lightingcontrol instructions from the conference management server cause thefirst and second computing devices to generate an outer frame area andan inner frame area, the outer frame area controlling at least onelighting condition in the respective user environment so that the atleast one lighting condition remains within an operating range of therespective image capture device.

In yet other embodiments of the present invention, a machine-readablemedium is provided. An executable program may be embodied in the medium,the program comprising instructions for the method of video conferencingas described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system for generating real-time,three-dimensional, interactive environment data according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a clientcomputing device for generating real-time, three-dimensional,interactive environment data.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an exemplary video display device comprisingan inner frame area and an outer frame area for implementing lightingcontrol of a user environment in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary video display device reflectingdifferent degrees of illumination intensity in the outer frame inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method for implementing lighting controlof a user environment through varying illumination intensity in a videodisplay device in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary network of real-time, three-dimensional,interactive environment data generating systems as may be utilized in a‘chat’ session or interactive video game in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 for generating real-time,three-dimensional, interactive environment data according to anembodiment of the present invention. The system 100 comprises an imagecapture device 110, a video display device 120, and a client computingdevice 130 having processor functionality such as a home entertainmentsystem for video games. The client computing device 130 may be furthercoupled to a controller device 140 as is shown in FIG. 1. Generally, auser and a related environment, such as a living room, are locatedwithin the field-of-view of the image capture device 110.

The client computing device 130 may be implemented as a PlayStation® 3from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. It should be noted, however, thatthe client computing device 130 and its processor functionality may beimplemented in other types of computing devices such as personalcomputers, workstations, laptop computers, wireless computing devices,portable media devices, or any other type of computing device that maybe capable of receiving and processing graphical image data.

Video display device 120 may be any device configured for the display ofvideo data such as a television or computer monitor. In one embodiment,video display device 120 receives graphical image data from clientcomputing device 130 via an AV MULTI OUT connector that may be coupledto an integrated audio/video cable and the requisite video and audioconnectors. Various other connection mechanisms may also be used, forexample, S VIDEO, an RFU adaptor, component video input (Y CB/PB CR/PR),and HDTV input (Y PB PR). In some embodiments, such as a portable mediadevice, the client computing device 130 and video display device 120 maybe integrated as is the case in a PlayStation® Portable from SonyComputer Entertainment Inc.

Image capture device 110 may be, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, a color digital camera device with functionality similar tothat of a webcam. Image capture device 100 may be coupled to clientcomputing device 130 via a USB cable. In some embodiments, image capturedevice 110 may utilize a wireless transmission protocol to exchange datawith the client computing device 130 (e.g., 802.11x).

Image capture device 110 extracts specific information from capturedmulti-dimensional image data for subsequent presentation to a user ofthe device (e.g., a color image on visual display device 120 or fortransmission to another user over a network as in FIG. 6 below). Forexample, captured image data may be integrated into a video game orother user-centric application (e.g., a workout or training video).Captured image data may also be utilized in a video conference or‘audio/visual chat session’ wherein the captured data may be transmittedto another user's computing device for display.

Image capture device 110 may be capable of capturing and mapping inthree-dimensions in addition to normal two-dimensional video imagery.Similar to normal cameras, image capture device 110 capturestwo-dimensional data for a plurality of pixels that comprise the videoimage. These values are color values for each pixel—generally red,green, and blue (RGB) values. In this manner, objects captured by theimage capture device 110 appear as two-dimensional objects on a monitor.

Unlike a conventional camera, however, image capture device 110 may alsocapture depth values in a particular field-of-view (e.g., a particularuser environment). That is, image capture device 110 may capture the xand y components of an environment using RGB values for each pixel inthe environment in addition to a z-component, which represents a depthvalue for the environment. (i.e., the z-axis).

In operation, a z-value may be captured for each pixel of the scene,each z-value representing a distance from the camera to a particularobject in the scene corresponding to the related pixel. A maximumdetection range may be defined beyond which depth values will not bedetected. Through the use of z-value capture, each object can be trackedin three-dimensions whereby the z-values along with the two-dimensionalpixel data can be processed to create an enhanced three-dimensionalinteractive environment for the user.

An input image processor (not shown) at client computing device 130translates the captured video images and depth data into signals thatare delivered to an output image processor (not shown) at the clientcomputing device 130. The output image processor may be programmed toeffect movement and status of virtual objects on the video displaydevice 120 in response to signals received from the input imageprocessor. In some embodiments, input and output image processors may bean integrated part of the hardware and software configuration of theimage capture device 110. In other embodiments, such processingfunctionality may be partially distributed over a network like thatshown in FIG. 6, such processing taking place at, for example, aconferencing management server. Some embodiments of the image capturedevice 110 may also be configured for the capture and subsequentprocessing of visual data in high-definition.

Various image processing techniques allow a user to interact with theimage capture device 110 using motion, color detection and, in someembodiments, sound through a built-in microphone or other audio inputdevice (not shown) coupled to the image capture device 110 or clientcomputing device 130. Certain interaction techniques are disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/759,782 for a “Method and Apparatusfor Light Input Device” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/202,677for a “Man-Machine Interface Using a Deformable Device.” A prop-inputdevice is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/448,614 for a“System and Method for Providing a Real-Time Three-DimensionalInteractive Environment” as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,068 for a“Method for Mapping an Object from a Two-Dimensional Camera Image to aThree-Dimensional Space for Controlling Action in a Game Program.” Thedisclosures of all of these applications are incorporated herein byreference.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the image capture device 110may be compact in design allowing for placement on top of a videoconsole or television. Image capture device 110 may comprise a pivotthereby allowing for positioning of the device and its relatedfield-of-view. The image capture device 110 may further comprise arotational ring around the camera lens for manual focus control. Someembodiments of the image capture device 110 may provide for automatedpositioning and focusing through the use of a directional-sensitivemicrophone that tracks a source of audio (e.g., an individual who isspeaking) and the focus of the image capture device 110 may besubsequently adjusted according to the position of the audio sourcerelative to the image capture device 110.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of one embodiment of a clientcomputing device 200 (130) is illustrated. Client computing device 200may be used to aid in the generation of real-time, three-dimensional,interactive environment data. The client computing device 200 may becommunicatively coupled to image capture device 110 in order to generatethe aforementioned environment data.

The client computing device 200 may comprise, but is not limited to, amain memory 202, a central processing unit (CPU) 206, vector processingunits VU0 204 and VU1 208, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 210, all ofwhich may be coupled via a bus 236 to an input/output processor (IOP)212. The client computing device 200 may also comprise an IOP memory214, a controller interface 216, a memory card 218, a Universal SerialBus (USB) interface 220, and an IEEE 1394 interface 222. The clientcomputing device 200 may further include an operating system read-onlymemory (OS ROM) 224, a sound processing unit (SPU) 226, an optical disccontrol unit 228, and a hard disc drive (HDD) 230, all of which may beconnected via a bus 238 to IOP 212.

Some embodiments of the client computing device 200 may also include anetwork adaptor 240, which may offer an Ethernet connection 242 and/ortelephony connection 244. The client computing device 200, in oneembodiment, may be an electronic gaming console although clientcomputing device 200 (or portions thereof) may also be implemented as ageneral-purpose computer, a set-top box, a hand-held gaming device, orin a mobile device such as a cellular phone. It should further be notedthat various other system architectures may be utilized within the scopeof the present invention such as the computer architecture and highspeed processing model disclosed in U.S. patent publication number2002-0138637 for a “Computer Architecture and Software Cells forBroadband Networks,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

The CPU 206, the VU0 204, the VU1 208, the GPU 210, and the IOP 212communicate via a system bus 236. The CPU 206 communicates with the mainmemory 202 via a dedicated bus 234. The VU1 208 and the GPU 210 may alsocommunicate with one another via a dedicated bus 232. The CPU 206executes programs stored in the OS ROM 224 and the main memory 202. Themain memory 202 may contain pre-stored programs and may also containprograms transferred via the IOP 212 from a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or otheroptical disc (not shown) using the optical disc control unit 228. TheIOP 212 controls data exchanges between the CPU 206, the VU0 204, theVU1 208, the GPU 210 and other devices of the system, such as thecontroller interface 216, or from other such systems via the networkadaptor 240.

The GPU 210 executes drawing instructions from the CPU 206 and the VU0204 to produce images for display on a display device (not shown). TheVU1 208 transforms objects from three-dimensional coordinates totwo-dimensional coordinates, and sends the two-dimensional coordinatesto the GPU 210. The SPU 226 executes instructions and processes data toproduce sound signals that are output on an audio device (not shown).

A user of the client computing device 200 provides instructions to theCPU 206 via a controller coupled to the controller interface 216.Controller may be any control device, for example, a joystick, a set ofdirectional buttons, and/or other control buttons. An exemplarycontroller is illustrated in FIG. 1 (140). A user may instruct the CPU206 to store certain information on the memory card 218, which may beremovable (e.g., a flash memory or other non-volatile memory card), ormay instruct a character in a game to perform some specified action.Other devices may be connected to the system via the USB interface 220and the IEEE 1394 interface 222. As previously noted, the image capturedevice 110 may be coupled to the client computing device 200 utilizing aUSB connector or, in another example, a wireless Ethernet networkthrough Ethernet connection 242.

In that regard, some embodiments of the client computing device 200comprise a network adaptor 240 that provides the hardware functionalitynecessary for the client computing device 200 to connect to a network.The network adaptor 240 may comprise, for example, a system connectorthat operates to connect the network adaptor 240 to the client computingdevice 200 through an expansion bus connector 246. The network adaptor240 may also comprise a power connector and data connector to allow forthe provisioning of power from the client computing device 200 to thenetwork adaptor 240 and the exchange of data between the clientcomputing device 200 and the network adaptor 240. Network adaptor 240may be fully integrated with the client computing device 200 or may be adetachable hardware device that may be implemented in older legacyclient computing devices 200.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the network adaptor 240may also require the installation of certain software on the clientcomputing device 200 to allow for identification and connection to aparticular IP address and/or dial-up to a particular Internet ServiceProvider. Software may also provide other functionalities, such as thecreation and maintenance of user profiles, in addition to functionalinteraction between the client computing device 200 and the networkadaptor 240. Such software or data related to such functionality may beembodied on CD-ROMs for games or applications requiring a networkconnection; stored on memory card 218; or part of a firmware upgrade.

The network adaptor 240 may also comprise an Ethernet connection 242.Through the Ethernet connection 242, a network cable (e.g., a 100Base-TX or 10-Base T) may be coupled to the network adaptor 240 forconnection to a network. The network cable may, for example, becommunicatively coupled to a DSL or cable modem. The network cable mayalso be communicatively coupled to, for example, a router via a LANport; the router may then be coupled to a DSL or cable modem through aWAN port. In further embodiments, the Ethernet connection 242 may allowfor a network cable to be connected to a wireless Ethernet bridge. Thewireless Ethernet bridge may be communicatively coupled to a wirelessrouter utilizing, for example, an 802.11x protocol. The wireless routermay be further communicatively coupled to a cable or DSL modem.

The network adaptor 240 may also comprise a telephony connection 244.Through the telephony connection 244, a standard telephone line with,for example, an RJ-11C telephone connector may be connected to thenetwork adaptor 240 and a telephone wall jack. In this regard, thenetwork adaptor 240 may further comprise modem functionality such thatthe client computing device 200 may communicate data over the publicswitched telephone network via the telephony connection 244.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary video display device 300 comprising aninner frame area 310 and an outer frame area 320 for implementinglighting control of a user environment in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention. Video display device 300 corresponds to thevideo display device 120 originally referenced in FIG. 1 and coupled toclient computing device 130 (client computing device 200 of FIG. 2) forthe display of images or other drawing instructions by GPU 210. Videodisplay device 300 may also comprise audio output functionality (e.g., abuilt-in speaker system) to emit audio signals produced by SPU 226.

Inner frame area 310 and outer frame area 320 are artificial boundariesthat may be created by client computing device 130 as the result ofdrawing instructions from the CPU 206 being executed by GPU 210. Thedimensions of these areas may be determined by or in light of aparticular software title being executed (e.g., a video game titleutilizing an image capture device 110) or by a server component as mightbe utilized in an ‘audio/visual chat’ session as is discussed in furtherdetail in FIG. 6. In some embodiments—for example, in the case of a 4:3game shown on a 16:9 display—the outer frame area 320 may be the extra‘dead space’ on the sides of a widescreen display.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the size of outer frame area 320 is larger thanthat of the corresponding frame area 320 in FIG. 3A. Accordingly, theinner frame area 310 of FIG. 3B is smaller than that of thecorresponding frame area 310 in FIG. 3A. The inner frame area 310 andouter frame area 320 may also be subject to particular userconfigurations or settings that may be saved on memory card 218 or someother memory device coupled to the client computing device 130.

In one embodiment of the present invention, video game data will bedisplayed in the inner frame area 310. This could include image data ofthe user as might be generated by the image capture device 110 or aderived visual game state based upon the image data of the user. Forexample, the image capture device 110 may capture an image of the userfor insertion into a game environment in the form of an avatar.Similarly, the image capture device 110 may generate data used todetermine whether the user came into contact with a particular portionof the game environment by ‘grabbing’ at an object or providing inputdata through a prop device. This real-world activity or interaction maybe reflected in the game environment as a result of the user, forexample, swinging at a baseball with a baseball bat prop device in aninteractive baseball game. An image capture device 110 tracks andcaptures the swinging of the baseball bat prop device and, through thenecessary image processors, translates that real-world activity intoon-screen display data.

The inner frame area 310 may also be used to display ‘chat’ session datasuch as the image of a remote participant communicating with the user.The inner frame area 310 may also display multi-media data generated bythe remote participant and transmitted to the present user in the formof a textual ‘instant message’ or a short video clip. Various types ofinteractive data may also be displayed in the inner frame area 310 suchas an interactive game (e.g., chess or checkers) or a collaborativedocument (e.g., a report that is being concurrently edited by one ormore parties).

As has been previously noted, image capture device 110 may requirecertain light levels or light conditions in order for the image capturedevice 110 to function properly or optimally. If the environment inwhich the image capture device 110 is operating in lacks sufficientlight, certain data (e.g., user interactions or prop input data) may notbe detected because the image capture device 110 cannot properly discernvarious x-y-z position values, color differentiations, or otherwisedetect motion of a user or object. Image capture device 110, inconjunction with software and/or hardware operating internally to theimage capture device 110, at the client computing device 130, and/or byan intermediate server as is discussed in FIG. 6, will determine whetherthere is proper light present in the environment to properly capturedata (e.g., with respect to a target histogram). Similar determinationsmay be made with regard to, for example, the presence of too much lightif the image capture device 110 or a client computing device 130 coupledto the image capture device 110 is configured with an infrared (IR)receiver to receive commands from a remote control (e.g., cameraon/camera off). Various other spectral emissions may be subject to suchuser environment light control.

In the event that there is a determination that insufficient lightexists to properly capture image data, the outer frame area 320 may beused to provide additional light to the user environment such that thevideo display device 300 operates as an artificial light source (e.g.,certain RGB values of individual pixels in the video display device 300are adjusted as to average a necessary user environment light level).That is, the outer frame area 320 will become visibly brightened with aparticular color and/or intensity of light such that the video displaydevice 300 lights the environment proximate to the image capture device110 whereby image data may be properly captured for subsequentprocessing.

For example, a user may be utilizing the image capture device 110 toplay the aforementioned simulated baseball game with a prop device. Assuch, the user may find an avatar of themselves inserted into the ‘homeplate’ video game environment and displayed in the inner frame area 310of FIG. 3A. If the image capture device 110 and related processingutilities determine that there is insufficient light in the sceneenvironment to properly track the prop device or any other aspect of theuser, the video game software operating at client computing device 130may (via CPU 206) cause the execution of rendering instructions by theGPU 210 that causes the rendering on the display device 300 of a white‘filler’ in the outer frame area 320 (i.e., the execution of drawinginstructions that causes the individual pixels within the outer framearea 320 to display a particular luminance and/or shading). The innerframe area 310 would continue to display the baseball video game andrelated information while simultaneously becoming surrounded by a white‘halo’ in the outer frame area 320.

This white ‘halo’ displayed by the video display device 300 will ‘spill’into the real-world environment of the user—that is, the light emittedby the display and measured in candelas per meter squared(cd/m²)—whereby the video display device 300 actually becomes analternative light source. This additional light generated by the videodisplay device 300 will result in the generation of sufficientadditional light to allow for the image capture device 110 to properlycapture image data for processing. The intensity of the ‘halo’ emittedby the outer frame area 320 can be controlled in part by the particularrendering instructions from GPU 210; that is, how white (what shade ofwhite) and how bright (the intensity thereof).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the particular hardwareconfiguration of the video display device 300 may be taken into accountsuch that the GPU 210 may optimize the resources at its disposal withregard to manipulating the outer frame area 320 and the light emitted bythe same. These configurations may be automatically detected by theclient computing device 200 or provided to the client computing device200 through user input as to particular configurations, the brand andmodel of the video display device 300 (which in turn corresponds toparticular operating specifications), and so forth. In some embodiments,client computing device 200 may consult a look-up table or other datastore (either locally or over a network) to identify particularoperating capabilities (e.g., bit depth) for a particular display modelif those capabilities are not immediately identified by the user orthrough certain plug-and-play (PnP) functionality.

For example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) in a flat screen televisioncomprises a certain resolution (i.e., the number of dots ofcolor—pixels—on the display) referenced by a horizontal axis (rows) andvertical axis (columns). A wide aspect 22-inch LCD monitor may conformto the WUXGA (Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array) standard and comprisea resolution of 1920×1200 whereas a smaller device such as a 15-inch LCDmonitor may only conform to the XGA (Extended Graphics Array) standardand comprise a resolution of 1024×768. While an LCD display device isreferenced, the present invention is equally applicable to a CRT-baseddisplay.

Additionally, the particular display mode of a video display device 300determines how many colors that video display device 300 can display.For example, a display that is configured to operate in SuperVGA modecan display 16,777,216 colors (also known as true color) the result of a24-bit-long description of a pixel (the bit depth). For example, in24-bit bit depth, eight bits are dedicated to each of the three additiveprimary colors (RGB). The bit depth therefore determines the number ofcolors that can be displayed at one time. To create a single coloredpixel an LCD, for example, uses three sub-pixels with red, green, andblue filers. Subject to the control and variation of the voltageapplied, the intensity of each sub-pixel can range over 256 shades.Combining the sub-pixels produces a possible palette of 16.8 millioncolors (256 shades of red×256 shades of green×256 shades of blue).

The brightness of the light emitted into the user environment can alsobe affected by the size of the outer frame area 320 relative the innerframe area 310. Returning to FIG. 3A, by filling the outer frame area320 with white image data, a certain degree of luminance may be created.Identical white image data (i.e., the same intensity and shade) in FIG.3B, however, will create a greater degree of luminance in that the outerframe area 320 of FIG. 3B is larger than that of FIG. 3A. Thus, theamount of light that is generated by the video display device 300 thougha ‘halo’ may be dynamically controlled during the use of image capturedevice 110.

For example, the image capture device 110 and related client computingdevice 130 may be in a room with a window in the late afternoon. Whilethere may be sufficient natural light to support image data capture atthe time game play commences, as the afternoon continues and the naturallight source begins to disappear (i.e., the sun sets), there may beinsufficient light for the image capture device 110 to properly continueto capture image data. The outer frame area 320 may, at that point, beilluminated as a white halo to provide the additional light necessary toallow for game play to continue. The intensity of the light, as noted,may be controlled by the client computing device 130 that may be runninggame software that has been calibrated with the image capture device 110to determine when the proper amount of light is present to allow for thegame to function as intended. In that regard, requisite light settingsmay be predetermined or calibrated based on the particular game and/oruser environment.

As natural light continues to disappear throughout the course of theday, the intensity of the artificial light source emitted from the videodisplay device 300 may be gradually increased. For example, a dull graylight source in the outer frame area 320 may provide sufficient light at4:00 PM but a flat white emission may be required from the outer framearea 320 at 6:00 PM. The intensity of the light may also be increased(e.g., the brightness of the light). At some point, the limitations ofthe video display device 300 may be such that even the most intensewhite available does not provide sufficient ‘artificial light’ to allowgame play to continue. At that point, the GPU 210 may cause for the sizeof the inner frame area 310 to decrease and the outer frame area 320 toincrease thereby providing additional artificial light (i.e., additionalindividual pixels in the screen display utilized for illuminationpurposes versus the display of game data).

In some instances, particular portions of the user environment may besubject to insufficient lighting conditions. For example, the right sideof a room may have an open window whereby sufficient light may beprovided to allow for image data capture. The left side of the room,however, may have window shades drawn such that no natural light may beentering that portion of the user environment. The orientation of theinner frame area 310 and outer frame area 320 may be adjusted such thatthe inner frame area 310 may be moved to the far right hand side of thevideo display device 300 whereby the inner frame area 310 may beoff-center but providing a larger, focused outer frame area 320 on theleft-side of the display such that additional artificial light may begenerated by the video display device 300. The positioning and centeringof the frame areas 310 and 320 may be dynamically adjusted as use of theimage capture device 110 continues.

Alternatively, particular gradations of color from one side of the videodisplay device 300 to another may be implemented wherein the orientationof the inner frame area 310 and the outer frame area 320 may remainconstant. In the aforementioned example where the left side of a room isdarker than the right, the portion of the outer frame area 320 relativethe left side of the room may emit a white light while the right side ofthe outer frame area 320 displays a neutral background color in thatsufficient natural light is present on the right side of the room. Agradual gradation of color (from white to black) between the left sideof the outer frame area 320 to the right side may bridge the two ‘sides’of the outer frame area 320.

Particular portions of the outer frame area 320 (or other frame areas inthe case of multiple frames surrounding the inner frame area 310) may besubdivided into various sub-sections. Each of those sub-sections may besubject to various lighting controls. For example, the outer frame area320 may be sub-divided into four quadrants: an upper right, upper left,lower right, and lower left quadrant. Each of those individual quadrantsmay be subject to various lighting controls (e.g., the upper right andlower left corner of the frame may be illuminated while the upper leftand lower right are not). These various controls include color,luminance, and any other condition that may be controlled by the varioussystems and methods disclosed herein.

The various sub-divisions may also be subjected to various shapes forboth functional and aesthetic reasons. For example, instead of squaresand rectangles, various triangle or other polygonal configurations maybe implemented. Various circular or elliptical patterns may also beused. These and any other shape or design capable of being displayed(e.g., lines, squiggles, waves, dots, splotches, etc.) may be uniformlyor randomly displayed as a group or with a variety of shapes and eachobject subject to lighting control. Various shapes and patterns may alsobe subject to strobing (i.e., regular, controllable series of high powerflashes rather than continuous light) for a variety of effects.

For example, strobing may be used to create a strobe light feature inthe user environment or, similarly, to counter an effect caused bynatural or other artificial light conditions in the user environment.Certain video games or television programs that may cause epilepticfits, feelings of vertigo, and the like and that might be displayed inthe inner frame area 310 may be countered through a counter-strobeeffect in the outer frame area 320. In that regard, the presentlydescribed lighting control systems and methods may also be implementedwith traditional television programming in addition to ‘chat’ sessionsand video games.

As noted, certain calibrations may take place through the image capturedevice 110. The image capture device 110 may, at start-up, sample theuser environment to determine various lighting conditions and the effectthose conditions will have on image capture over a particular operatingrange (e.g., lowest possible range of capture to an optimal range ofcapture). The image capture device, in conjunction with the variouslighting controls discussed herein as implemented by various hardwareand/or software operations, may then adjust certain user environmentlighting conditions through inner frame area 310 and outer frame area320 lighting manipulations (e.g., size, brightness, orientation, color).During the course of these adjustments, the image capture device 110 may‘re-sample’ the environment to determine what environmental controlcondition will allow for a particular operation of a game or‘audio/video chat’ session in light of the particular environment.

The client computing device 130 in conjunction with particular ‘chat’ orvideo game software may make that determination or such a determinationmay come as a result of a management server determination as isdescribed in the context of FIG. 6. Similarly, the determination of aparticular user environment condition may come from a user in anotherenvironment if that particular user is unable to properly view the firstuser in an ‘audio/video chat’ session. That decision by a second usermay be made by selecting an available environment setting in light ofseveral environmental control conditions.

For example, during the start-up calibration, the first user environmentmay be subject to three different intensities of a particular color oflight; three different colors of light; and three different frame areasizes. The image capture device 110 may capture an image of each ofthose nine possible environments. The effect of that particularenvironment control may then be displayed to the second user in the formof a still frame or even a short (e.g., 5 second) video clip. The seconduser may then select the particular environment control based on theimage or clip that appears best. A user operating in a solo environment(e.g., playing a video game) may select a particular environmentalcontrol in a similar fashion.

These calibrations or adjustments may occur at start-up of a game orchat session or may occur dynamically during the session. For example,adjustments may occur automatically during game play or at breaks suchas between levels. Adjustments may further occur in response to a useraction wherein a query may be made such as during a pause. In someembodiments, a particular frame of data (e.g., an I-frame) may indicatethe propriety and need to readjust lighting conditions in the userenvironment.

Similarly, particular frames of data may be recognized during thedecoding process as likely to cause certain changes in the userenvironment. For example, incoming image data of a conference remoteparticipant may consist of a bright white background that will spillinto the user environment thereby causing an unintended change in userenvironment lighting conditions. These environment changing conditionsmay be identified in advance such that when the actual image data may berendered that video display device 300 will have already adjusted aninner frame area 310 and/or outer frame area 320 as may be appropriatesuch that no adverse affect or change to the user environment occurs.

It should be noted that in some embodiments of the present invention,the outer frame area 320 may always be present but simply unutilized(i.e., a neutral background color such as black). The frame area maythen be ‘filled’ as needed in response to GPU 210 executing a drawinginstruction from the CPU 206. In other embodiments, the actual graphicimages to be displayed may occupy the majority of the game screen and,as such, only the inner frame area 310 may be displayed. If and when anartificial light emission is necessary from a ‘halo’ generated by theouter frame area 320, the software executed by the CPU 206 and otherwisecontrolling the display of the frame areas 310 and 320 and interactingwith the image capture device 110 may cause the GPU 210 to reconfigurethe game environment (e.g., re-size the game environment to fit in asmall inner frame area 310) such that the outer frame area 320 may nowbe displayed and emit the appropriate ‘halo’ of artificial light.

The re-sizing of the various frame areas may occur during the course ofgame play (e.g., the re-sizing occurs as game play progresses).Alternatively, the re-sizing may occur only during pauses in game actionsuch as to avoid the size of the environment and various characterschanging while game play is occurring (i.e., to avoid a vertigo-typeeffect). Additionally, re-sizing may actually cause an automatic pausein game play with a query issued to the user as to whether re-sizing ispermitted. In these instances, the amount of natural light may besufficient to allow game play to continue but not without someprocessing errors. If game play deteriorates to the point thatadditional light is necessary, the user may be asked whether they wishto activate the illumination control feature of the present invention.If not (e.g., the user does not wish to minimize the size of the actualgame environment in the inner frame area 310), the user may manuallyprovide another source of artificial light through, for example, anoverhead lamp or other light source in the actual user environment.Various user input may be provided through, for example, controller 140in addition to other inputs such as voice-recognition.

In some embodiments, different colors or shades of colors may also beutilized to maximize the color balance of a particular user environment.For example, a user may have different light sources offering differentcolors of light. These varying colors may cause difficulty with theimage capture device 110 processing environment information, especiallywith regard to color differentiation. In these instances, the imagecapture device 110 may identify irregularities or processingdifficulties in the environment in a manner similar to theidentification of a lack of sufficient light. The outer frame area 320may used in a similar manner as to produce different colors andintensity of light to counterbalance certain overexposures in theparticular environment. In some embodiments, additional frame areas maybe used (e.g., a third, fourth, or fifth frame area) such thatcombinations of certain colors (e.g., yellow and blue individual halosto create an overall green appearance) may be implemented.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary video display device 400reflecting different degrees of illumination intensity in the outerframe area 420 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. FIGS. 4A and 4B, which reflect an ‘audio/visual chat’session, illustrates the lighting adjustments of a user environmentdescribed in the context of FIGS. 3A and 3B. In that regard, the innerframe area 410 of FIG. 4A reflects image data related to anotherparticipant (i.e., a remote chat participant); the outer frame area 420is presently in a neutral background state.

In FIG. 4B, the outer frame area 420 has been ‘filled’ such that it nowreflects white light ‘halo’ as referenced in the context of FIGS. 3A and3B. The inner frame area 410 has also been reduced in that the lightingconditions in the environment of the user receiving the present imagehave made it necessary to increase the amount of light emitted into thatenvironment. As such, the outer frame area 420 was expanded at theexpense of the inner frame area 410.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the inner frame area 410may need to be reduced in that the graphic data in the inner frame area410 is inadvertently creating excess light and thereby oversaturatingthe user environment. For example, in the aforementioned baseball gameexample, if the user hits a home run, the image displayed may pan upwardto the sky to follow the path of the baseball as it travels toward theoutskirts of the ballpark. As the scene pans toward the sky, the screendisplay will become predominantly white and gray (i.e., colors of thesky and clouds). These bright colors may ‘spill’ into the userenvironment, which may cause image data capture difficulties. Inresponse to such a situation, the inner frame area 410 may decrease insize to reduce the amount of secondary light ‘spillage’ into the userenvironment. Additionally, the outer frame area 420 may be darkened tohelp counter suddenly excess bright light being emitted from the innerframe area 410.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method 500 for implementing lightingcontrol of a user environment through varying illumination intensity ina video display device in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

In step 510 an image capture device may attempt to capture image datafrom a user environment. In step 520, a determination may be madewhether adverse lighting conditions are inhibiting the processing of theimage capture data or the actual capture of the data. If there are noadverse conditions present and the image data is captured and processedwithout incident, image data capture proceeds as necessary followed bysubsequent processing of the data.

If it is determined in step 520 that adverse lighting conditions doexist, an attempt may be made to adjust display intensity in step 530.This may occur through various adjustments whereby the outer frame areamay be ‘filled’ with a particular color and intensity of light asdiscussed in the context of FIGS. 3A and 3B and 4A and 4B above. If theadjustment as to display intensity is not sufficient, then (in step540), frame image boundaries may be enlarged (or reduced as isappropriate) in order to increase or decrease the total amount ofartificial light projected into the user environment.

While step 540 and the adjustment of frame boundaries is recited asfollowing step 530 and the adjustment of light intensity, this is not tosuggest the necessity of a step-by-step process. Both adjustments mayoccur concurrently or frame adjustment may occur prior to intensityadjustment in that FIG. 5 is an exemplary embodiment only. Regardless ofthe order, following the adjustment of image intensity and/or frameboundaries, further attempts at image capture and/or image dataprocessing occur as the method repeats or continues (as is appropriate)in step 510.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary system 600 of real-time,three-dimensional, interactive environment data generating systems610/620 as may be utilized in an ‘audio/visual chat’ session orinteractive video game and in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. Systems 610/620 exchange data over communicationsnetwork 630. Optional conferencing management server, server 640 mayfacilitate exchanges between systems 610/620 during the course of a chator game play session.

Systems 610/620 may comprise an exemplary system like that disclosed inFIG. 1. In that regard, such a system may comprise an image capturedevice, a video display device, and a client computing device havingprocessor functionality. Systems 610/620 would be placed in the contextof a user environment, such as a living room or a conference room, whichwould be located within the field-of-view of the image capture device.

Systems 610/620 may each be running software for facilitating avideo-conference or video ‘chat’ session or otherwise related to aparticular video game involving image data capture. The exchange of databetween systems 610/620 may be limited to video images and accompanyingaudio. The session may further comprise additional ancillary data suchas textual exchanges (e.g., closed captioning); various in-conferenceapplications such as an enterprise application allowing forcollaborative development between multiple users (e.g., a wordprocessing document or presentation slide); video games that may beplayed on-line during the session; or other multi-media applications(e.g., a media player). These data exchanges are in addition to varioussession protocols related to establishing and maintaining the exchangeof conferencing and other related data.

Through the aforementioned software, which may be accessed throughoptical disk control unit 228, the network adaptor 240 may initiate aconferencing session through, for example, Ethernet connection 242 overthe communications network 630. Image data (and related audio data) maybe captured through the image capture device, which may be coupled tothe system 610 via, for example, USB interface 220. GPU 210, in turn,executes various drawing instructions related to not only the actualconferencing data (e.g., user images) but also the inner frame area andouter frame area and related illumination control commands (e.g.,‘filling’ the outer frame with a particular intensity and color) wherebylighting conditions of a particular environment may be controlled.Instructions related to control of lighting conditions in the particularenvironment may be a part of the video conferencing software executed byeach system 610/620 or at server 640.

In some embodiments of the present invention, address book data may bestored on a removable data storage device as may be accessed throughmemory card interface 218. This ‘address book’ data may be related toother users of the present video-conferencing/chat system 600. Theconferencing software may also include certain security features orparental controls to ensure that under-age children do not access thesystem 600 or are limited to sessions with particular, pre-approvedconferees. Such information may also be stored on the aforementionedmemory device. Conferencing software may further facilitate thegeneration of video mail such as a 30-second full-motion video. Softwaremay further facilitate entry into various chat-rooms or interaction withcertain applications, such as video games.

Communications network 630 comprises various communications facilitiesand mediums (e.g., telephony, wireless, satellite, cable, optic, and soforth) as may be provided by telecommunications companies and InternetService Providers. Communications network 630 may be a geographicallywidespread network (e.g., a Wide Area Network (WAN)), like the Internetthat depends upon the aforementioned communications facilities to linkvarious network segments. In that regard, a WAN may ultimately becomprised of smaller linked communications networks such as Local AreaNetworks (LANs). A LAN is typically comprised of a group of computersand other devices dispersed over a relatively limited area and connectedby, for example, a variety of broadband communications links. LANs maytake on a variety of configurations including server client,peer-to-peer, peer groups, or a combination of the same. Communicationsnetwork 630 may also be a closed, proprietary network.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a conferencing managementserver 640 may be utilized to conduct various video conferences or otheruser interactions. For example, system 610 may actually connect withserver 640; server 640 will then create a connection with system 620 anda ‘chat’ session may commence. Server 640 may provide various networkcontrols such as connection acceptance, session initiation andtermination, bandwidth management, conference recording (e.g., recordingthe conference session or a transcript of the same for future access);managing chat rooms or group sessions (e.g., sessions involving morethan two participants); facilitating certain data exchanges ancillary tothe actual conference (e.g., documents, presentations, video games); andalso ensuring proper control of lighting conditions in a particular userenvironment.

In the latter example, the server 640 may monitor lighting conditions inthe conferencing environment of each system (610/620) and adjust certainframe settings through the necessary drawing instructions such thatproper lighting conditions are maintained at both ends of theconference. In this regard, server 640 may actually provide the drawinginstructions for execution by the appropriate system to ‘fill’ a frameor adjust the size of the same. Server 640 may also receive variousindications from each system (610/620) concerning the quality oflighting conditions at the other system (610/620) and facilitateadjustments as is appropriate by communicating the various indicationsto various participant devices.

Server 640 may also host the necessary software for the conference totake place. In such an instance, the systems 610/620 may comprise onlyminimal application data necessary to contact the server 640 to indicatethe desire to participate in a conference session. Critical conferencingarchitecture software and execution of the same may then occur at theserver 640, which may have considerably more processing power than theend-user device (e.g., an entertainment system). By leaving heavyprocessing to the more powerful conferencing server (like server 640),conferencing exchanges do not ‘slow down’ or experience jitter due toprocessing delays at the various end-users and their related computingdevices. In some embodiments of the present invention, like thoseutilizing a high speed processing model as disclosed in U.S. patentpublication number 2002-0138637 for a “Computer Architecture andSoftware Cells for Broadband Networks,” server 640 may also managevarious distributed computing operations.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the control of lightingconditions in a user environment can also be associated with bandwidthand processing availability. For example, in MPEG compression, imagesare represented in YUV color space (YCbCr) wherein 24-bits per pixel arepresent: 8-bits for luminance (Y) and 8-bits for each of the twochrominance (U), (V) elements. The chrominance information in the YUVcolor space data may be sub-sampled in both the horizontal and verticaldirection. All of the luminance information may be retained, however, asthe human eye is more sensitive to luminance information rather thanchrominance information. Frames of video are subsequently divided into16×16 macro-blocks consisting of four 8×8 luminance blocks and two 8×8chrominance blocks (1 U and 1 V).

Each frame of video data may then be encoded as one of three types offrames: intra-frame (I-frames), forward predicted frame (P-frames), andbi-directional predicted frames (B-frames). In the case of an I-frame,the frame may be encoded as a single image with no reference to past orfuture frames. Further, with the exception of data quantizationfollowing the encoding of each 8×8 block from a spatial domain to afrequency domain utilizing the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and theaforementioned sub-sampling, there is no lossy compression in anI-frame—especially with regard to luminosity. The other frametypes—P-frames (relative to a past reference frame) and B-frames(relative to a past reference frame, a future reference frame orboth)—refer to the I-frame. Thus, decreasing certain luminosityinformation in the I-frame would represent savings with regard to theall of the frames in a stream of video data.

In this regard, the image data captured from the user environment couldbe accepted at the lowest possible operating condition. That is,lighting controls would illuminate a user environment no more so thannecessary in order to reduce the amount of luminosity data beingcaptured, compressed and subsequently transmitted over a network. Thisdecreased luminosity data represents not only savings in bandwidth at atransmitting computing device, a receiving computing device, and overthe network backbone but can also recognize a savings with regard toprocessing cycles at a computing device perform digitization andcompression following image capture.

A utility related to preservation of bandwidth and processing powervis-à-vis the image capture device and/or related hardware or softwaremay be manually implemented by a user. For example, a user may recognizethat their particular computing device lacks accelerated processingpower or may be coupled to a low bandwidth network or, similarly, that arecipient of data captured by the image capture device suffers fromsimilar limitations. In these instances, the user may activate such autility to avoid bottlenecks of data.

Similarly, this preservation utility may be implemented on an as-neededbasis, the need being recognized by a network congestion monitoringutility like ping, which utilizes the Internet Control Message Protocol(ICMP), and trace route, which utilizes the Uniform Datagram Protocol(UDP), to measure network response time. These and other networkutilities may be implemented in various network devices (e.g., switchesor routers) or through large-scale platforms like the NetworkApplication Performance Analysis Solution (NAPAS) for Cisco Systems.Indicia of network congestion generated by these applications andsolutions may be provided to a computing device operating certainsoftware related to image capture (e.g., a client computing device or aconference management server) such that bandwidth and/or processorpreservation may be activated through the manipulation of lightingconditions that are not optimal but otherwise sufficient to allow forcontinued image data capture.

In certain embodiments wherein one end of a video data exchange degradesa particular lighting condition for the purposes of improved processingor transmission time, the recipient of that data may adjust the incomingvideo data such that it does not appear as lesser quality image data.For example, the incoming video data may be pre-processed such thatluminance that was degraded by the sender of the data may beartificially amplified by the recipient through editing or videopre-processing editing software that automatically adjusts the data asit is decoded and rendered.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the true spirit and scope of thepresent invention. In addition, modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the essential teachings of the present invention. Variousalternative systems may be utilized to implement the variousmethodologies described herein and various methods may be used toachieve certain results from the aforementioned systems. For example, alight emitting diode (not shown) on an image capture device 110 may beused to provide certain strobing conditions or to otherwise operate asan additional artificial light source that may be balanced with thevarious frame image areas of a video display display 300.

1. A video conference system comprising: a first image capture devicethat captures first user environment image data in a first userenvironment for transmission over a communications network; a secondimage capture device that captures second user environment image data ina second user environment for transmission over the communicationsnetwork; a conference management server coupled to the network, theconference management server receiving the first user environment imagedata and the second user environment image data, the conferencemanagement server further monitoring at least one lighting condition inthe first user environment and at least one lighting condition in thesecond user environment; a first computing device associated with thefirst image capture device, the first computing device receivinglighting control instructions from the conference management server; anda second computing device associated with the second image capturedevice, the second computing device receiving lighting controlinstructions from the conference management server, wherein the lightingcontrol instructions from the conference management server comprisegenerating an outer frame area and an inner frame area, the outer framearea controlling at least one lighting condition in the respective userenvironment so that the at least one lighting condition remains withinan operating range of the respective image capture device.
 2. The videoconference system of claim 1, wherein the conference management serverexchanges data ancillary to the video conference between the firstcomputing device and the second computing device.
 3. The videoconference system of claim 2, wherein the ancillary data comprisesapplication data.
 4. The video conference system of claim 2, wherein theancillary data comprises text data.
 5. The video conference system ofclaim 2, wherein the ancillary data comprises multi-media data that isnot the actual conferencing data.
 6. The video conference system ofclaim 2, wherein the ancillary data comprises a video game.
 7. The videoconference system of claim 1, wherein the conference management serverrecords image capture data exchanged between the first computing deviceand the second computing device.
 8. The video conference system of claim1, wherein the computing devices adjust the size of the inner framerelative to the outer frame.
 9. The video conference system of claim 1,wherein the image capture devices track an object in the respective userenvironment in response to a source of audio tracked by adirectional-sensitive microphone.
 10. The video conference system ofclaim 9, wherein the image capture device automatically focuses on theobject in accordance with the position of the audio source relative tothe image capture device.
 11. A method of video conferencing comprising:capturing first user environment image data with a first image capturedevice in a first user environment for transmission over acommunications network; capturing second user environment image datawith a second image capture device in a second user environment fortransmission over the communications network; monitoring at least onelighting condition in the first user environment and at least onelighting condition in the second user environment with a conferencemanagement server coupled to the network, the conference managementserver receiving the first user environment image data and the seconduser environment image data; receiving lighting control instructionsfrom the conference management server at a first computing deviceassociated with the first image capture device; and receiving lightingcontrol instructions from the conference management server at a secondcomputing device associated with the second image capture device,wherein the lighting control instructions from the conference managementserver cause the first and second computing devices to generate an outerframe area and an inner frame area, the outer frame area controlling atleast one lighting condition in the respective user environment so thatthe at least one lighting condition remains within an operating range ofthe respective image capture device.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe conference management server further exchanges data ancillary to thevideo conference with the first computing device and the secondcomputing device.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the conferenceserver records image capture data exchanged between the first computingdevice and the second computing device.
 14. The method of claim 11,wherein the computing devices adjust the size of the inner framerelative to the outer frame.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein theimage capture devices track an object in the respective user environmentin response to a source of audio tracked by a directional-sensitivemicrophone.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the image capturedevices automatically focus on the object in accordance with theposition of the audio source relative to the image capture device.
 17. Amachine-readable non-transitory medium having embodied thereon a programexecutable by a machine, the program comprising instructions for amethod of video conferencing, the method comprising: capturing firstuser environment image data with a first image capture device in a firstuser environment for transmission over a communications network;capturing second user environment image data with a second image capturedevice in a second user environment for transmission over thecommunications network; monitoring at least one lighting condition inthe first user environment and at least one lighting condition in thesecond user environment with a conference management server coupled tothe network, the conference management server receiving the first userenvironment image data and the second user environment image data;receiving lighting control instructions from the conference managementserver at a first computing device associated with the first imagecapture device; and receiving lighting control instructions from theconference management server at a second computing device associatedwith the second image capture device, wherein the lighting controlinstructions from the conference management server cause the first andsecond computing devices to generate an outer frame area and an innerframe area, the outer frame area controlling at least one lightingcondition in the respective user environment so that the at least onelighting condition remains within an operating range of the respectiveimage capture device.
 18. The medium of claim 17, wherein the conferencemanagement server further exchanges data ancillary to the videoconference with the first computing device and the second computingdevice.
 19. The medium of claim 17, wherein the conference serverrecords image capture data exchanged between the first computing deviceand the second computing device.
 20. The medium of claim 17, wherein thecomputing devices adjust the size of the inner frame relative to theouter frame.
 21. The medium of claim 17, wherein the image capturedevices track an object in the respective user environment in responseto a source of audio tracked by a directional-sensitive microphone. 22.The medium of claim 21, wherein the image capture device automaticallyfocuses on the object in accordance with the position of the audiosource relative to the image capture device.